


The Cat's Meow

by waitingforvizzini



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-27
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:33:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27455041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waitingforvizzini/pseuds/waitingforvizzini
Summary: Lucy Heartfilia has just set out on her own and is living in the city of Magnolia. A weird looking cat keeps showing up outside in her yard and Lucy wants to know why the owner doesn't seem to be taking care of it. Little does she know how big a part the cat and owner will end up playing in her life. NaLu AU (no magic). Mostly fluff but rated T for some cursing.First 3 chapters originally posted to fanfiction.net.
Relationships: Natsu Dragneel & Lucy Heartfilia, Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia
Comments: 1
Kudos: 36





	1. In which Lucy moves to Magnolia and meets a strange cat.

ONE  
The morning’s first rays were working their way through my blinds and into my bedroom as my alarm went off for the third time. I really need to learn to stop hitting the snooze button, I thought to myself. Groaning, I slowly began the process of waking up, although completely unwilling to start my day if it meant leaving the warm comfort of my bed. Winter is the worst time of year for early morning routines. Shivering, I pulled on my robe and shuffled over to the bathroom to brush my teeth.  
Somehow, my small apartment in Magnolia was always a lot colder than the huge home my parents owned. I suppose it’s because I actually have to pay heating bills now and can’t constantly keep my place at a more comfortable temperature. It’s funny how you don’t think about things like heat and water usage until you have to pay for them all yourself. Regardless, I thought, better slightly cold and free to make my own choices than to have no say in my own life. Still, leaving hadn’t been easy.  
My childhood hadn’t exactly been a bad one. In fact, in comparison to many people, I led a very comfortable life while growing up. For much of my early life, I had two, living parents, who each loved me and tried to make sure I had everything I needed. We lived well in a large home, where there was never a shortage of food, and there was never a need that wasn’t met. My father worked long hours at his self-made company to make sure my mother and I had these things, so sometimes he was absent from our daily lives, but my mother always more than made up for his consistent disappearances; she was a constant fountain of love and affection in my life. For hours on end, we would read, play make-believe, and explore the gardens and parks nearby. At night, my mother would hold me close as I fell asleep, recounting stories of strong young girls who conquered the world, telling me I could do and be anything I wanted. And on days when my father had time, we would all go on picnics, my father stoic but always quietly happy, my mother smiling and radiant, and myself a bubbling, joyful little girl. However, much like all else in life, our happy little bubble was burst and my world was turned upside down suddenly and without warning.  
My mother’s death was completely unexpected to both my father and me. While her demise was obviously hard on me—I had lost my best friend, mentor and mother, all at a very young age—I think it was especially hard father, who had clearly loved her in his own quiet way. While he had always been more stern and reserved, especially when showing affection, my mother’s death seemed to flip a switch inside of him. He became more easily angered, worked even longer hours, and began to show less interest in me, unless it was to correct my misbehavior or control some aspect of life he found unacceptable. During the periods of time he was home, the hours were filled with comments on my behavior, my appearance, and any aspect that wasn’t becoming to a young lady. Looking back, many of his actions can be explained by the pain he was feeling over the loss of my mother, and amount of her he must have seen in my behaviors and actions. Still, at the time, without that perspective, it took a toll on me. I had gone from a highly loving and nurturing environment, to one in which I found it impossible to do anything right, and shows of affection were few and far between.  
As I grew older, my father grew more controlling, most likely trying to stave off the rebellion that tends to come with most teenagers, although this was compounded by criticisms of friends and activities I liked as they weren’t ”proper for a young lady, especially with our standing”. At first I tried to meet my father’s demands and live a life he wanted me to live; however I quickly found that nothing I did was ever quite good enough. The praise and love I so desired never came, and if his broader ideals were met, then he would begin to nitpick smaller aspects of my life. “Lucy,” he said to me once, “your hair is quite unruly today, do you take any notice of your appearance? You know our family has a certain reputation to uphold, and that includes how we present ourselves outwardly.” After this, I slowly stopped looking for my father’s approval and began to remember the things my mother had taught me as a young girl: kindness, curiosity, and compassion, but above all the importance of being true to yourself. I started hanging out with friends I had previously cut off at the request of my father, and began to pursue writing—I gained comfort in creating stories like the ones my mother used to read to me. When I was old enough, I started working, saving up money for a day when I could leave and live my own life away from the toxic environment that had formed in our home. Finally, just before I turned eighteen, I moved away to Magnolia to start out on my own. It’s been a few months since I moved away; I was able to get a job as a personal assistant to a woman named Erza Scarlett—she works as an editor at a fairly large publishing company based in Magnolia—which helps me pay my bills and gives me some time to work on my writing. It’s good work but it doesn’t mean I enjoy the early mornings it requires.  
After I finished brushing my teeth I shuffled my way over to the kitchen to make some tea and toast for breakfast. After popping the bread into the toaster and putting the kettle on to boil, I gazed out of the window above the sink into the courtyard outside. Most mornings, all there is to see out in the courtyard is a few birds, usually it’s just the morning breeze blowing through the plants, but this morning there was a newcomer on the scene. As the sun’s rays illuminated the patio, I noticed a blue-tinged cat padding around the fence. That’s weird, I wonder where it came from? I thought. I’d never seen a cat with that color of fur before. The cat kept walking around, sniffing at plants, and occasionally stopping to stare at the moving branches of a tree in the corner of the small yard. Suddenly, the tea kettle began screaming, causing me to jump, and I realized my toast had begun to burn as well. Grumbling, I moved around the kitchen getting my (now burnt) breakfast ready to go so I could eat it on the way to work. After getting dressed and grabbing my haphazard meal, I took one last glance outside to find that the cat had left. Maybe it’ll be back again later, I thought as I ran out the door. 

The next morning, I noticed the cat outside in the courtyard again. Wondering if it was possibly a stray, and whether or not it might need food, I rummaged around in my pantry, looking for something edible for a cat. Eventually I found a stray can of tuna fish, so I put the contents into a small bowl, wrapped myself up in my big fluffy robe and slippers, and took the dish outside with me. At first the cat almost bolted, and not wanting to startle it, I slowly placed the dish down and backed away. Tentatively, the cat stepped towards the bowl, sniffing at the air to suss out what was in the dish. Finally deciding whatever I had put down wasn’t poisoned, the cat walked over to the small bowl, took a final sniff, and began to eat. Smiling, I sat down at a small table I had in the courtyard to watch it eat. Again, I wondered at the color of the cat’s fur; I had never seen that kind of coloration in a cat but it looked beautiful. A brisk breeze blew through the patio, causing me to shiver. I wonder if this little guy has a home, I thought. It was pretty chilly out today, and the weather report called for even lower temperatures the rest of the week. I didn’t like the idea of this cat being stuck outside when it was cold enough to snow.  
When the cat had finished his breakfast he looked up at me questioningly. “I’m sorry, I don’t have any more for you.” The cat continued to stare and licked its lips before standing up and sauntering over to my chair. The cat meowed quietly at me, as though it were checking to make sure I didn’t have any more tuna fish, “Really, I don’t have any more, there’s no need to be rude.” I reached down and began scratching its ears. “What’s your name little guy? Do you have a home or are you on your own like me?” I got no reply but the cat began to purr and wind between my legs. I sat watching him for a few minutes before he eventually gave me a final glance and walked to the edge of the courtyard. As he scrambled over the fence, I walked back into my apartment, hoping that the cat had somewhere warm to stay. I didn’t like the idea of it being stuck outside in the middle of winter. I’ll have to get some more tuna, I thought, as I got ready to go to work.  
This routine continued over the next couple of days; the cat would show up in my yard in the morning, I would take it a bowl of tuna, I’d pet him for a bit, and eventually he’d hop the fence and leave. It was nice having the cat in my life, lord knows I hadn’t made a lot of friends yet, but I was starting to get more concerned about whether or not the animal had a home to stay in. Each morning was colder than the last and even those were warmer than what the temperatures must have been at night. The forecast called for snow over the weekend too. I should pick up some supplies, just in case, I thought. I was quickly growing fond of the cat, and I didn’t want it freezing to death just because it didn’t have a place to stay.  
The next morning, seeing the cat out in my yard, I grabbed its usual bowl of tuna fish and opened the door. The cat looked up at me and meowed expectantly. “Yes, I know you want your breakfast, but today you’ll have to come in here to get it,” I said, as I lowered my hand so he could see inside the bowl. He quickly plodded over to me, and as he approached, I took a couple of steps back, “Come on, if you want the food you’re going to have to come inside this time.” The cat tentatively sniffed around my doorway before stepping inside. Smiling, I placed the bowl on the floor and closed the door behind him. While the cat continued to eat, I got dressed and prepared my own breakfast. As I munched on my toast, he finished up his tuna before walking over to me and meowing expectantly. “No, you can’t have any more right now but maybe if you’re good I’ll give you some more when I get home.”  
I brushed the crumbs off my hands before scooping up the cat and inspecting him for a collar. I hadn’t seen one in the previous days, but I didn’t want to keep him in my apartment if he actually had an owner. Not seeing one, I carried him over to the bathroom. “See this? I’ve got a litter box for you in here,” I placed him down on the tile of the bathroom and he sniffed at the box in the corner.  
“I have to go to work, but when I get back I’ll give you some more food okay?” He meowed at me and stalked off, presumably to find a warm place to nap, so I gathered my things and left for work. I really hope he understands how the litter box works. I don’t need my landlord coming after me about a cat pee smell stinking up the place, I thought as I walked out the door. My air came out in little cloud puffs as I walked, and I was glad I had decided to keep the cat inside—it was way too cold for him to be stuck outside all day and night. I supposed he might have found a warm enough place to stay on his own, but I was also glad for the company, even if it didn’t speak. I hadn’t made many new friends yet in Magnolia and my life had been pretty lonely because of it.  
That night when I got back, it had started to snow and I was even gladder I had decided to take the poor thing in. As the snowfall got progressively harder, the cat and I watched the flakes whisk past the window and listened to the howling wind. Absentmindedly I began stroking its head.  
“I really like having you around little guy,” I said. He started purring and rubbing his head against my hand. We sat like that watching the snow for a while longer before I eventually got ready for bed. Glancing out at the snow storm outside one more time I was glad that I wouldn’t have to go to work tomorrow—there was definitely going to be a lot of snow accumulated and I really didn’t want to deal with walking through it all to get to work. As I got into bed, the cat padded into my room and looked at me questioningly.  
“Alright, climb up,” I said. The blue feline hopped onto the bed with me and together we fell asleep to the quiet roaring of the storm outside.

“HELLO? IS ANYONE HOME?”  
I woke up startled, to the sound of banging and someone screaming at the door. I groggily looked up at the clock on my bedside table; it read nine o’clock. It is far too early on a Saturday for someone to be waking me up like this, I thought. Dragging myself out of bed, I pulled on my robe and shuffled over to the front door to find out who had so rudely woken me up on my day off. The cat was sitting by the door looking expectantly at the knob, tail swishing, as if he knew who was outside.  
“IS SOMEONE THERE? PLEASE ANSWER THE DOOR IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT.”  
“Alright, alright, calm down, I’m opening the door,” I replied. I cracked the door open and saw a boy with bright pink hair standing in the snow drifts outside, shivering slightly and looking around anxiously. “What do you want?” I asked.  
“Have you seen a blue-ish looking cat? He’s mine, his name is Happy, and he never came back before that blizzard last night.”  
At the same time, the cat, whose name was apparently Happy, gave a rather loud and unhappy meow.  
“HAPPY!” The boy shouted, and before I could stop him he pushed the door open, reached down, and scooped up the steel blue cat. “Oh man Happy, I thought something terrible had happened to you!”  
Annoyed not only by the intrusion into my home, but also by this boy’s reaction to finding his cat here, I started tapping my foot, “Funny, I wouldn’t have expected an owner who actually seems to care that much about his cat’s well-being, considering you left him outside when we were expecting a blizzard.” Startled, the boy looked up at me, almost like he had forgotten where he was, or that someone else was there with him.  
“Whaddya mean? Of course I care about Happy. He’s my best friend, why do you think I was banging on your door lookin’ for him?”  
“You’re kidding me right? For the last week, this cat has been showing up at my place, hungry and out in the cold by himself. He has no collar on to indicate that he actually has a home, and yesterday you apparently let him out, despite the fact that it was already snowing and a major storm was supposed to hit Magnolia last night. Does that sound like a responsible pet owner to you?” The boy continued to stare at me, seemingly dumbfounded.  
“But Happy’s an outdoor cat. I don’t even let him out myself, he has a cat door he uses so I don’t have to constantly open the door for him. That’s why I was so worried when he didn’t come back after the storm last night. I didn’t notice he hadn’t come back until after the storm had already started. And did you just say you’ve been feeding him every day?” He started guffawing.  
I frowned, “Yes, but I fail to see what’s so funny about all of this.”  
The boy wiped away the tears from his eyes, “Oh man, sorry! It’s just… I thought it seemed like Happy had been putting on weight and now I know, it’s because you’ve been feeding him on top of what I give him!” He turned his attention back to Happy, “So you’ve been pigging out here, eh Happy? She was giving you fish wasn’t she, you’re such a sucker for fish.”  
“He seemed starving, like no one had been feeding him!” I shouted defensively, “How was I supposed to know he had an owner that was already feeding him, he doesn’t even have a collar!”  
The boy placed Happy down on the ground, “Yeah, that’s fair I suppose. I used to keep a collar on him but he always got it off somehow so eventually I stopped trying. This one will always act starving if it means he gets fish though. Some cats have no self-restraint,” he said as he crossed his arms and looked pointedly at Happy. Happy stared back and licked his lips. “Yeah, I bet you would like some more fish but that’s too damn bad for you.”  
He looked back at me and held out his hand, “I’m Natsu by the way.”  
“Lucy,” I replied, ignoring his hand and instead walking past him to put the kettle on. “And regardless, I still think it was irresponsible of you to let your cat get outside when the weather was going to be so awful.”  
“Look, Happy’s a regular outdoor cat. He can handle himself and knows when to come back inside. I already told you that’s why I was just freaking out. He usually comes back inside when something like that blizzard is going to happen. You’re technically the one who’s been overfeeding him and cat-napped him.”  
“Whatever, just take care of your dumb cat from now on okay?”  
“Fine, fine, we’ll just leave then,” he said, picking up Happy and walking over to the door. “What’s her problem anyway, huh Happy?” he mumbled as he stepped outside. I don’t think he meant for me to hear but it still caused me to slam my mug down on the counter.  
Whatever, I thought after the door closed, who needs him or his dumb cat anyways? That cat was only hanging out with me for a few days and it was already costing me a fortune in tuna fish.


	2. In which some breaking and entering occurs.

TWO  
The next morning, the snow was still falling and I groaned a bit internally. The white fluffy stuff was always nice initially or when I had nowhere to be, but today I had to at least go out to get groceries. It was a lot less fun when you had to drudge through the stuff, carefully stepping so that you didn’t slip on any especially icy bits. Unfortunately, when I had picked up the tuna for Happy the other day I hadn’t had the foresight to also buy groceries for myself before the winter storm. See? Be glad that cat isn’t staying with you. It’s just a big ball of trouble disguised as a cute blue fur ball. Eventually, I had tugged on all of the layers I physically could and lumbered out the front door to walk to the store.  
Arms crossed tightly across my chest, and slipping and sliding the whole way, I finally trudged my way through the sliding doors and into the warm and welcoming grocery store. With a sigh of relief I began taking off outer layers so I could grab a basket. I walked my way up and down each aisle, not in any rush to make my way back out into the icy mess outside. Then, turning a corner without paying attention, I nearly lost everything in my basket by running into a small woman with bright blue hair.  
“Lucy! So you decided to brave the storm today too eh?”  
Smiling back at the petite woman standing in front of me, I laughed. “Yup! Nearly died on the way over here but a girl’s gotta eat, right?” Although still slightly mortified at the accident, I was at least glad the woman in front of me was the mildest mannered employee at the publishing company I worked for, Levy McGarden. Although Levy and I hadn’t interacted much at work (she was always busy reading manuscripts, and I was usually occupied with running errands and completing random menial tasks for Erza), the woman was kind to everyone she met. I had thought about trying to become friends with her in the past, our busy schedules tended to preclude any meaningful interactions.  
“We sure do,” Levy replied, winking, “How’s work been going, Erza hasn’t been pushing you too hard, right?”  
“No, no! Erza’s been a great boss. Although I do worry sometimes that I’m not fast enough to keep up with her.”  
“Trust me, you’re doing fine. Erza doesn’t usually keep people around that she feels aren’t up to snuff. You should be pretty happy with yourself, I think this is the longest she’s actually kept an assistant in a while,” Levy said reassuringly. I blushed at the compliment as we continued down the aisle. I knew I tended to be overly critical myself, especially at work, and it had been an odd day in the Hartfilia household when I would receive any praise from my father, so the kind words meant more to me than Levy probably realized. We continued together up and down the aisles, chatting about new products and the best snacks to have around in the current cold weather.  
“How are you doing over at your place Lucy? I know you moved here pretty recently, have you gotten settled in yet?” Levy asked as we made our way over to the checkout.  
“I’m all moved in but I’m still getting to know the area. Most nights, by the time I get home I just want to curl up in bed with a book or a movie.”  
“I know what you mean,” the blue-haired woman laughed in reply, “Have you made many new friends yet? I know I was pretty lonely when I first got here.”  
“Well…”  
“You know I could always show you some of the hot spots in town some time and we could have a big night on the town! We can go out for drinks, get dressed up… We can make a whole event of it!”  
I couldn’t help but smile back at her, “That would be amazing. The most social interaction I’ve had outside of work lately was with some weird cat that wouldn’t stop visiting my yard… And his weird owner coming to bring him home. But I don’t expect them to be coming back any time soon,” I laughed.  
“Great! How does next Friday sound?”  
“Sounds like a plan,” I said, still smiling. We both went through checkout and said our goodbyes before beginning the trek back outside and to our respective homes. Even with the cold wind, and the snow blowing in my face, I couldn’t help but smile at the thought of making a new friend. 

When I finally got home and had put away my groceries, I sat down at my desk, determined to make progress on my novel. It started out well too; words were flowing from my fingers to the page like they hadn’t in weeks, and I was so focused that I almost didn’t notice a light scratching at the door. I probably would have continued my productive streak as well, if the light scratching hadn’t become a sudden loud and obnoxious yowling noise. With a sinking feeling, I closed my laptop and walked over to my patio door to see none other than Happy sitting outside in the snow, flicking his tail back and forth as though annoyed I hadn’t noticed him sooner. For a moment I just stared at him, tapping my foot and considering leaving the beast outside in the cold. Before long though, another mangled yowl escaped the cat’s mouth and I opened the door for him, sighing heavily as I did so.  
“Welcome back asshole,” I said, knowing he probably couldn’t understand me anyways. “You know your owner’s gonna be going crazy looking for you again.” As I spoke, Happy wound his way around my feet, rubbing his face against my legs and purring loudly. Apparently, the blue fluff ball had missed me. Or at least missed the extra fish I gave him if the hopeful look he gave me next was any indication. I glared back at him.  
“I’m not giving you any more tuna now! I know what you were up to before, you’re not fooling me again you dumb cat.”  
“Mrow?” Still standing there looking up at me with a hopeful face, I rolled my eyes and walked back to my writing desk. The cat of course followed me, jumped up on my desk, and plopped down on my laptop, effectively blocking me from getting any more productive work done that day. Finally giving up, I scratched behind Happy’s ear, in the spot I knew he liked best.  
“I don’t know what I’m going to do with you OR your owner Happy,” I said quietly. Honestly, Natsu had been so insistent that he knew what he was doing with Happy and that the cat could handle himself, but it was hard not to doubt his abilities as an owner when he couldn’t even keep his cat inside during a snow storm. I had just set up a movie and sat down with my tea when the banging on my front door started. Although I’d been expecting this since I first saw Happy back outside on my patio, I still jumped at the sudden loud noise.  
“LUCY. LUCY ARE YOU THERE HAPPY’S MISSING AGAIN.”  
Scowling as I opened the door, I yelled back, “You know you don’t have to practically knock down my door like that! Or scream like I can’t hear you! You’re going to get me complaints from my neighbors!” I was sure there was practically steam coming out of my ears, but I didn’t care. I had had enough of this ridiculous cat owner and his antics. “Happy is fine. He’s been here for about an hour and honestly I’m surprised you noticed so quickly this time considering how long it took you to find him last time!”  
Upon hearing that his beloved pet was alright, Natsu visibly relaxed. “Aw, I’m sorry, it’s just that Happy’s my best friend ya’ know? And after last time, I didn’t want him getting stuck out in the cold and since this is where I found him last time I ran straight over.” Natsu looked over my shoulder then. “Where is Happy anyways?”  
As though hearing his owner’s question, Happy got up on top of my couch and meowed loudly. Before I could protest, Natsu was pushing past me to pick up the cat. “Ya gotta stop doing this Happy you’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days!”  
“You could just close the fucking cat door,” I mumbled to myself, although not as quietly as I thought because Natsu looked over at me with a confused look.  
“But then where would he go to the bathroom? And what would he do during the day while I’m at work? I don’t want him getting bored.”  
Not wanting to get into a yelling match like the last time the pink haired boy had barged into my apartment, I simply said, “Fine, whatever, I just wish you’d stop acting surprised and crazy every time your dumb cat leaves and comes here.”  
“Happy’s not dumb, are ya’ Happy,” Natsu said, nuzzling the cat and then cradling him into his arms.  
Giving up, I picked my tea back up and plopped back onto the couch, ready to move on from the whole encounter. “You can let yourself out,” I said while picking up the DVD remote, “I know you think Happy needs independence or something but if you don’t want to be constantly running over here in a panic, then maybe you should still consider closing that cat door… I mean, at least some of the time.” As I pressed play and watched the DVD menu start up, I waited to hear the sounds of the door closing behind the annoying boy and his animal but they never came.  
“You’re watching ‘The Desolation of Smaug’? That’s one of my favorites!” Natsu exclaimed. Before I could respond, Natsu situated himself on the other end of the couch with Happy. I hit pause on the remote.  
“Excuse you.”  
“What?” He tilted his head and gave me a confused look.  
“What exactly makes you think you can just make yourself comfortable here? I didn’t invite you over to watch this movie with me.”  
“But this is like, one of my top five favorite movies! There’s a fire breathing dragon! I love stuff with dragons! And it’s cold outside! And Happy doesn’t want to leave yet either do you Happy?” He said looking down at the cat. “And besides, at this point, we should really just become friends anyways, I mean Happy likes you and I’ve already been over to your place twice,” he grinned looking up at me.  
I rolled my eyes again but figured short of physical violence I wasn’t going to get the two idiots out of my apartment before the movie was finished. Besides, the friend comment stuck with me. I really didn’t have many actual friends yet in Magnolia and I certainly didn’t want to push away anyone who seemed genuinely friendly. Even if they were a bit of an idiot.  
“Fine. But you better not be one of those people who talks through the entire movie. I hate that.”  
“Scouts honor,” he said, sitting up straight and holding up three fingers, trying to look very serious. I held back a smirk as I started the movie and settled back into the couch with my tea.  
As I relaxed into watching the movie with Natsu and Happy on the other end of the couch, I started to enjoy spending the time with the two of them. At funny points in the movie, Natu’s laugh was pretty infectious, and during the really action packed scenes I could see Natsu leaning forward, wide-eyed, which I found amusing considering how many times he had proclaimed to have seen the movie. It was hard not to find myself relaxing into hanging out with the strange, pink-haired boy. Finally, the credits started rolling over the screen.  
“Well, Natsu, this was surprisingly fun but I’m gonna have to kick you out, I have work in the morning,” I said, stretching as I stood up to see him out. He almost looked a little dejected but I did my best to ignore the expression on his face as he bundled up himself and Happy.  
“Thanks for letting us hang out Luce,” he said as he walked out the door. I wasn’t sure about the nickname but it had been nice having someone else in the house once the boy had calmed down a bit. He certainly could be a bit of a flame-brain. 

Work the next day dragged by; Mondays always did. Even with several cups of coffee, I found it hard to focus on any of my tasks. At lunch, I saw Levy in the breakroom. We both smiled and waved at each other and I went over to the table she was sitting at.  
“Hey Lucy, how’s your day going?”  
“Ugh. Could be better. It’s Monday, it’s cold and snowing and grey outside, and I think I might need caffeine in an IV at this point.”  
Levy laughed. “I feel you girl, it’s taking everything to get through this manuscript today,” she gestured towards a large pile of papers sitting in front of her. “It’s definitely going to be a long week. WHICH is why I’m so excited for our night out on Friday! You don’t mind if I invite a few other people do you? It’s just a small group I hang out with outside of work.”  
“Sure, I’m always glad to make new friends!”  
“Great! There’s this bar downtown called Fairy Tail that we all like to hang out at. I think you’ll like it.” She smiled brightly at me, and I couldn’t help but feel cheered by her expression. We chatted while we ate our lunches, and although I still struggled a bit with some of the more menial tasks for that day, I found myself in a pleasant mood the rest of the afternoon with Friday’s plans set. That mood continued on my way out of the office, and throughout my chilled walk back to my apartment. My smile disappeared instantly however, when I opened my front door to see a pink-haired boy and a blue-gray cat lying on my couch.  
“WHAT THE HELL NATSU?”  
Happy scrambled up and away into some corner at the sound of my yelling, while Natsu simply sat up and looking slightly remorseful said, “Aww, come on Luce, we had such a good time yesterday, and Happy seems to like it here a lot, I thought we could hang out again.”  
“BUT HOW DID YOU GET INTO MY HOUSE YOU WEIRDO?”  
“Oh, that was easy! Your window wasn’t locked so I just climbed right in,” he said with a toothy grin. With my hands clenched and my vision going a bit red, I tried to calm down as I gritted my teeth and replied, “Ok, fine. But NORMAL PEOPLE don’t break into other people’s apartments by climbing in through a window, JUST TO HANG OUT. NORMAL PEOPLE CALL OR COME BACK WHEN THE OTHER PERSON IS HOME OR… OR… OR SOMETHING. BUT YOU DON’T FUCKING BREAK IN. I mean… you would have had to remove the screen and everything…” looking over that the window in question I noticed that the screen was leaning against the wall. With a giant hole in the middle. And a puddle of water underneath the window where snow had clearly gotten in during his break-in attempt. I looked back towards a sheepish looking Natsu.  
“Yeah… About that…”  
“OH MY GOD.”  
“It’s okay, it’s okay! I can totally fix that!” He seemed so anxious to reassure me and eager to appease me that it was hard not to want to forgive him.  
“Whatever. As long as you actually fix it. And clean up the mess you made coming in.”  
“Yeah yeah, sure, but seriously, I brought the next Hobbit movie do you want to watch it?” He looked so excited it was hard not to give in and forgive him a bit.  
“Fine, put it on if you want, I need to make dinner though.”  
“Awesome!”  
As he set up the movie, I went about my business making dinner. After it was done, I even dished up a portion for Natsu, having calmed down a bit from the window incident, and figuring he hadn’t eaten dinner yet either. The look of gratitude and excitement on his face when I handed him the dish basically made any remaining anger melt away. We ate and watched the movie together for the next couple of hours in silence, other than Natsu’s cheers for the heroes of the movie, and our combined laughs at the more comical bits. We both remained sitting quietly on the couch after the credits had finished rolling. Despite his earlier stunt, I realized I was really enjoying having company in the evening. The apartment seemed warmer with other people in it, and I hadn’t been feeling as listless after work with no idea of what to do. I turned to the bright haired boy next to me.  
“Hey Natsu?”  
“Yeah Lucy?”  
“Do you want to come over and hang out again tomorrow?”  
I could see his face light up instantly. “Yeah! Sounds awesome!”  
“Okay. But this time, just knock on my front door like a normal person please. And for tonight, I’m gonna have to kick you out again. Work and all that.”  
Surprisingly, Natsu actually complied without any arguments or comments about a cold trek home. He just picked up Happy, and bundled up to head outside.  
“I’ll see ya tomorrow Lucy,” he said with a big grin on his face.  
“See you tomorrow weirdo,” I smiled back. “Oh and Natsu?”  
“Yeah Luce?”  
“If you ever DO break into my place through the window like that again, I WILL punch you in the face.”  
I heard faint laughter as the boy and his cat walked off.


	3. In which Natsu eats all of Lucy's food, and Lucy has a long day at work.

THREE  
Natsu and his cat continued to come over every night after that first Monday movie night. On Tuesday, Natsu brought ‘Backdraft’ for us to watch.  
“What are you some kind of pyro?” I asked jokingly. Ignoring my comment, Natsu instead made a beeline for my fridge.   
“Whaddya got to eat around here Luce? I’m starving!”   
I walked over to the fridge as calmly as possible before not so calmly shoving Natsu away from the appliance.  
“I have plenty to eat. You on the other hand won’t have anything unless you stop barging into my place and eating all of my food. The least you could do is ask politely,” I added with a grumble.  
“OH excuuuuuuse me,” Natsu said dramatically, “Ma’am if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, might I perhaps partake in some of the delightful cuisine that is available in your lovely home?” He even added in a clumsy little bow that I tried not to chuckle at. Of course, Happy chose this moment to join us in the kitchen and let out the loudest yowl that had ever come out of the small creature.  
“FINE I GET IT. You’re both STARVING and clearly I have no choice but to feed you two idiots. You two are going to eat me out of house and home at this rate you know.” I rummaged around my fridge and freezer for something I could fix up more quickly and found a slightly frostbitten but unopened bag of fried rice and decided on that. While I heated up some oil in a pan for the rice, I searched for one of the remaining cans of tuna in my pantry for Happy. Eventually, rice cooked and fish dished up for Happy, I set two bowls down on the table for Natsu and myself. Natsu, unsurprisingly, started eating immediately without so much as a thank you, but made a face after the first bite.  
“Ya’ got any hot sauce Luce?”  
I gave him a look that was a mix of frustration and utter disbelief, but none the less got up to get some hot sauce from the fridge. I slammed it down on the table a little too forcefully, but the oblivious boy didn’t seem to notice, and instead happily poured about half of the bottle onto his fried rice. Grimacing at the Natsu’s taste in seasoning, I decided it was time to learn more about the strange boy sitting across from me.  
“So what do you do anyways? You seem to always have time to come over here and bother me,” I teased.   
“I’m a special effects guy at live events. I set up flamethrowers and fireworks for concerts and stuff.” Natsu had a dreamy grin on his face as he explained his job details.  
“OH MY GOD YOU ARE A PYRO I KNEW IT!” Suddenly, everything about the boy made sense, especially his wild hair color choices.  
“What? Because of my job?”  
“Well, yeah, that. And the obsession with fire breathing dragons and any movie involving explosions and fire. Oh my god you are SO not allowed anywhere near my oven or stove anymore. And I’m going to have to start hiding my candles,” I said, laughing. Natsu gave me an offended look.  
“Whatever. What exactly do you do? Sit around all day plotting ways to steal people’s cats?”  
I crossed my arms defensively, “No. For your information I work for a very important publisher, doing critical work for the company, making sure everything runs smoothly and everyone has everything they need,” I huffed.  
“So you’re an assistant?”  
I gave the flame-head what I hoped was my best death glare. “Maybe. But I also write things.”  
“Ah, cool, what kind of things?” His eyes brightened.  
“I’m… working on a novel. It’s a fantasy.”  
“ARE THERE DRAGONS?” Natsu asked, practically drooling. That boy with his dragons and fire, I thought.  
“CAN I READ IT?”  
“Well…” I was about to make some lame excuse about needing to make edits, so I wouldn’t have to admit how little progress I had actually made, or that I didn’t really want anyone reading it anyways, when a loud yelp came from my work area. Both Natsu and I looked over at the source of the noise, which of course, was Happy, falling off my desk and taking the majority of the finished pages of my novel off of the desk with him.  
“Is that it?”  
“NO!” I shouted a bit too vehemently as I rushed over to pick up the scattered paper, and to block Natsu from picking any of it up himself.  
“Jeez, alright I won’t read it. Although if you want to be a writer you’re probably going to have to let someone read your stuff at some point.” I could hear the hurt tone in his voice but honestly, I was nowhere near ready to start sharing my work with anyone. Much less someone I had known less than a week. As I gathered up the scattered pages, and stuffed it away in a cabinet where prying eyes couldn’t try to read it, I heard more shuffling coming from my desk.  
“Who’s this?”   
I swear, that insufferable, inquisitive boy and his cat will be the death of me, I thought to myself. Bracing myself and preparing for the newest breach into my private life, I turned around to see Natsu holding a photo frame that sat near my computer. It held an old photograph of my parents and myself when I was younger, and my mother was still alive. When I had first moved in, it was to remind me of happier times in a period when I had been feeling alone and like nothing was going to get better. Even my father was smiling lovingly at my mother and me. Honestly, I hadn’t thought about the photo in such a long time; it had just gotten pushed farther and farther back until it was almost behind the clutter on my desk, but seeing it again brought back a flood of memories, good and bad, leading up to my leaving the Heartfilia household, causing me to tear up a bit.  
Natsu face became simultaneously terrified and sympathetic. He obviously felt bad for bringing up the photo but didn’t want to see someone crying in front of him.  
“NEVERMIND, NEVERMIND… HOW ‘BOUT THAT MOVIE EH?”  
“No. No, it’s alright Natsu, I’m sorry,” I said wiping the mist from my eyes. “It’s just I haven’t looked at that picture in a while and it’s reminded me of some things.”  
“Is it your family?”  
“Yeah. Or what was my family. My mom died when I was pretty young and my dad… Well just let’s say my dad and I haven’t spoken in a while and leave it at that.” I gave him a sad smile before shifting moods. I barely knew the boy, there was no need to drag him into all of my past family drama. “Now what were you saying about a movie? And fire?”  
“Alright, I’m all fired up now!” He shouted, pumping a fist in the air. I settled into the couch while Natsu got the movie ready. As the main credits rolled over the screen, I looked over at the pink-haired boy. He had the biggest smile on his face and was leaning on the edge of his seat waiting for the action to start. I couldn’t help but smile along with him. The boy’s enthusiastic nature was certainly infectious.

On Wednesday, I had dinner ready and set on the table before Natsu could even attempt to burst through the door (or window for that matter).   
“Wow Luce, this looks amazing!”  
“Thanks! I made it extra spicy, so I doubt even you…” I paused as I saw Natsu race to the kitchen to grab the hot sauce and dump an absurd amount on top of the dish before sitting down and taking a bite.  
“Ahhh, that’s the stuff,” he said with a satisfied look on his face. This boy had a spice tolerance like no one else on earth. With what I am sure was a slightly shocked look, I sat down and started eating my own meal.  
“So. No Happy tonight?”  
With his mouth stuffed full of food, he replied, “Nah, he didn’t want to move from the window today. I figured I let him be.” He shrugged, “You know how cats are. Can’t make ‘em do anything they don’t want to.”  
We ate primarily in silence until the end of the meal, largely because Natsu was too busy filling his mouth with food. As he finished off his last bites though, he got a troubled look on his face.  
“Hey Luce?”  
“Yeah?”  
“I know you don’t really want to talk about your dad or your family, but if you ever do I just wanted you to know you could talk to me. And that… If it makes you feel any better, I don’t have the best family relationships either. I mean my dad just up and left when I was a kid, so you could say we haven’t exactly spoken in a while either.” He gave me a hesitant, lopsided smile as he waited for my reply. My eyes started to tear up again, fairly certain that Natsu wasn’t sure how much that meant to me, and touched by how genuinely kind this strange boy was being to me despite how little time we had known each other.   
“Ah man I’m sorry, did I say something wrong Luce? I didn’t mean to make you cry, whatever I said I’m so sorry!”  
“No, you big dummy, that was really sweet,” I said smiling him. Soon, he smiled back.   
We spent the rest of the night talking and getting to know one another better. Eventually though, Natsu had to head home. For once, both of us had to work early in the morning. Before he walked out the door, I gave Natsu a big hug.  
“I’m glad your stupid cat decided to crash at my place all of those times. And I’m glad you never keep the cat door locked”  
“Yeah, me too,” he said. Suddenly he jerked away from the hug, “BUT HEY, HAPPY IS NOT STUPID. AND HAVEN’T WE BEEN OVER THE DOOR THING?”  
He continued to shout as he walked away from my apartment door.  
“See you later you flame-brain.”  
“Yeah. Bye to you too, you weirdo.”  
I smiled as I shut the door, and the grin didn’t leave my face until after I had fallen asleep that night.

Thursday morning I when I went into work, a familiar, blue haired woman was sitting on my desk, waiting for me with a cup of coffee.  
“I brought you a latte, I figured you might need a caffeine boost for today,” she said with a smile.  
“Thanks Levy! Why would I need the extra caffeine boost though?”  
“Did you forget? Today is the day we have to finish up edits on all of the books we’ve been reviewing lately and send out all of the notices to the authors. You know how so many of the people are around here, leaving all of this stuff until last minute. Which basically means that everyone now has to work together to finish everything up on time.”  
I had heard about these so called ‘Hell Days’, but as I was still relatively new, I hadn’t experienced one firsthand yet. Suddenly very thankful for the caffeine Levy had provided, I knew I was going to be running around a lot to help everyone in the office all day.   
“Thanks Levy,” I said, taking a sip of the hot beverage, “You’re too nice.”  
“No worries. Consider it an upfront payment for the excess work you’ll have to be doing today.” She winked as she hopped off my desk and walked back towards her own, “But don’t worry, I know you’re going to do great!”  
The next eight hours were long and arduous. Besides running around, getting signatures, making deliveries, and getting coffee for everyone, I actually had to help with the reading of a few manuscripts as well. Some had real potential and I gave what I hoped were good suggestions and remarks to those before handing them off to a senior editor for final review. Others were definitely not going to cut it, and with regret I gave my recommendations for dismissal of those. The hardest part was writing the actual rejection letters to some of the authors. It certainly didn’t help how I felt about showing anyone my own work, knowing I could get a reaction like the ones I was sending out. The strangest part of the day was that I’d occasionally catch Erza watching me from her office, or as she passed on the way to somewhere else in the office. She never spoke to me, other than instructions for my next task, so I never found out why she kept watching me the way she did, but eventually the work day was over and the office had finally finished the edits and notices. Some people went out to celebrate the end of the nightmarish day but deciding I was too exhausted to do any celebrating, I started to make my trek back home instead.  
When I finally walked through the door to my apartment, I just about collapsed on the floor inside. Barely making it to the couch, I realized I wouldn’t have to cook for two tonight at least, since Natsu was going to be at his work gig late into the evening. Making dinner for one was a strange feeling, especially upon realizing how quickly it felt normal to have another person eating with me. Although it was certainly calmer without Natsu here, I definitely missed having him around. He was quickly becoming one of my best friends here in Magnolia and I hadn’t even known him a week yet.   
I finished eating fairly quickly, and as I got up from my chair to put away the dishes from dinner and get ready for bed, I heard a faint scratching noise at the door. Smirking, I opened the door to let my new, oddly colored feline friend in.   
“Hey Happy, did you get lonely without Natsu around tonight?”  
The cat didn’t reply, but instead just stared up at me briefly before moving to the living room and proceeding to plop down and give himself a bath. I rolled my eyes and set up some food, water, and his litter box. In what was quickly becoming our usual routine, Happy wound his way around my feet while I got dressed for bed and went through my nighttime rituals, until I got into bed and he was able to jump up next to me so I could pet him. I ended up falling asleep curled around the gently purring feline, thinking of how grateful I was to have Happy and his owner in my life now.

I woke up slowly in the morning, in the place between dreaming and consciousness. I knew it was cold outside in the apartment (goddamn heating bills are so high with all of the cold weather) so I was reluctant to leave my bed, which felt especially warm this morning. I stretched out, preparing myself mentally for the cool air that was about to assault my body, when I felt something else in the bed. Something that was definitely not small and furry. I froze mid-stretch and turned to see a (thankfully) fully clothed, pink haired boy lying next to me.  
“WHAT THE FUCK NATSU?”  
Natsu opened his eyes and gave me a groggy and confused look.  
“Heh?”  
“WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK. HOW IN GOD’S NAME DID YOU EVEN FUCKING GET INTO MY FUCKING HOUSE YOU ASS AND WHY ARE YOU IN MY BED?”  
Natsu sat up and rubbed his eyes.   
“Ahh, I’m sorry Luce,” he started.  
“I DON’T WANT APOLOGIES I WANT AN EXPLANATION.” I had a sudden realization as I yelled at him, “OH my GOD.” I ran over to the living room window to find it, unsurprisingly, open with the screen on the floor. Again. “NATSU I AM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU.”  
Natsu sheepishly shuffled into the living room, hand rubbing the back of his neck, “I know Lucy, I’m sorry. I know I promised not to break in like that again but when I got back from my gig and couldn’t find Happy, I knew he’d be here. But it was like, two in the morning at that point and…”  
“AND YOU DIDN’T THINK YOU COULD WAIT UNTIL MORNING LIKE A REASONABLE PERSON?”  
“I maaaaaay, have had a little alcohol in my system at the time to mess with my judgement.”  
All I could do was stare at him, fuming. Eventually I calmed down just enough to grunt at him and point towards the open window and removed window screen. Seeming to understand my speechless command, Natsu started putting my window back together. I gave a slight huff as I calmed down further.  
“I suppose that explains why you chose to stay the night AND crawl into my bed instead of at least staying on the couch.”  
“Yeah… Sorry about that one too. It’s just… opening the window made it soooo cold. And Happy was with you… and your bed looked super comfy and warm. And like I told you…”  
“Yeah yeah, you had something to drink while you were at work, I heard,” I rolled my eyes, “You still don’t just crawl into bed with someone you’ve only known a short amount of time. ESPECIALLY if they aren’t aware that you’re doing it.” I glared at him and would have continued to do so, if it hadn’t been the look of pure remorse on his face when he turned back around after putting my window back together.   
“Listen, it’s just. I don’t normally wake up to extra people in my bed, I mean you can see how that would freak a girl out right?”  
He brightened a bit when he noticed I had started to calm down, “Yeah, but I’m not some weirdo or anything, you wouldn’t have to worry about me!”  
“Yeah… Not so sure about the ‘not being a weirdo’ part of that. Just… Don’t surprise me like that again. Or at least take the couch. I don’t like having a heart attack first thing in the morning.”  
“Sure thing Luce!” He said with a giant grin. I still wasn’t so sure he’d follow my instructions but as always his infectious attitude left me smiling as well. I left for work that morning, after a prolonged search for Happy and a quick goodbye to the two of them, questioning my sanity a bit for becoming friends the abnormal boy and his ill-behaved cat.


	4. In which Lucy goes out with a new friend and makes a Discovery (TM).

FOUR  
I ended up going into work late on Friday morning, although a lot of people (after their ‘celebrating’) arrived even later than I did so I figured I was in the clear. Still, Friday night and my night out with Levy couldn’t come soon enough. I was ready to sleep all weekend after Thursday’s trials and the debacle with Natsu earlier that morning. But I was also beyond excited to go out and start making more friends here. The more people I met, the more Magnolia started to really feel like home.   
All too slowly, the workday wrapped up and Levy approached my desk, “Ya’ ready Lucy?”   
Was I ever. We laughed and talked on the way to Fairy Tail, and Levy started to tell me about some of her other friends.   
“Gray and Juvia are totally in love with each other, even if Gray doesn’t admit it yet. Mirajane is literally the sweetest girl you’ll ever meet, and also the best wing woman a girl could ask for. She’s already dating this guy Laxus, so all the attention she gets from guys she redirects to you as long as you’re interested. Canna’s a total lush but she could still kick the asses of any of the guys in the gang, even when she’s wasted. You’ll get a feel for them all soon enough though!”  
When Levy and I finally got to the bar, there was already a boisterous and slightly tipsy crowd hanging out.   
“So this is it! Fairy Tail!” Levy said with arms stretched out as if displaying the prize stage for a challenge on “The Price is Right”. I looked around at the happy, ragtag group near the bar counter. They all seemed to be very comfortable and chummy with each other, despite very obvious differences in appearance and personality, which made me smile. Finally, I felt like I could be in a group that would give me the sense of family I had been missing for so long. Levy lead me over to the bar and chatted with me for a bit while I waited for my drink, but soon left to go make the rounds with the other people at Fairy Tail. I kept fairly quiet and to myself, content to just observe the group dynamic for a while. Levy seemed to be very, very friendly with a tall, muscular man with long dark hair. He seemed a little intense compared to the lively and petite woman, but she couldn’t seem to stop smiling and flirting with him anyways.   
I would have been content to people watch the rest of the night but soon I heard a voice speaking to me from the next seat over.  
“So, you’re new to Magnolia huh? It’s Lucy right? That’s what Levy was saying…”  
I turned to the source of the question and found a tall guy with messy black hair sitting next to me at the bar.   
“Yup, that’s right!” I said smiling, “I don’t’ think we’ve met yet though… Who are you?”  
“Gray Fullbuster. It’s nice to meet you.”   
“Careful around this one Lucy, Gray has a tendency to lose his clothes easily,” Levy walked up behind our chairs and ruffled dark Gray’s hair a bit, then leaned over towards me and whispered conspiratorially, “He has a bit of a reputation for the group perv.”  
“HEY, THAT’S NOT FAIR IT’S NOT LIKE I STRIP OR SOMETHING AND YOU KNOW I GET HOT REALLY EASILY.”   
“Whatever you say Gray, but we all know you’re more likely to be found without a shirt or pants than with them.”  
Gray looked like he was about to respond angrily again but then someone yelled out from the doorway.  
“Oi! Lucy! What are you doing here? And what are you doing talking to ice princess over there?”  
I spun around in my seat, shocked to find a familiar, pink haired boy standing over by the entrance to the bar. Levy looked at me with a mix of amusement and slight confusion.  
“You know Natsu already Lucy?”  
“Um… Yeah, his cat keeps crashing at my place and now we hang out sometimes.”  
“Ahhh…” She said with a knowing look. I didn’t like where her thoughts were obviously going (I had really only just met the boy) but I didn’t have a chance to say anything before Natsu was over at the bar and quarreling with Gray.  
“WHADDYA THINK YOU’RE DOIN’ YOU PERV, WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE THE MOVES ON LUCY?”  
“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? I WAS JUST TALKING TO HER, I WASN’T TRYING TO ‘MAKE A MOVE’!”  
“OH YEAH? THEN WHERE’S YOUR DAMN SHIRT, HUH?”   
Natsu had flames in his eyes, and Gray looked like he was just about ready to spit ice but looking back at Gray, he had, in fact, somehow removed his shirt in the midst of everything. He looked down in confusion, finding his shirt in his hand instead of on his torso. He glared back up at Natsu.  
"WHATEVER NATSU AT LEAST I’M NOT GOING TO TRY AND SET EVERYTHING ON FIRE.”  
“YOU WANNA GO, ICE PRINCESS?”  
At this point both boys were practically at each other’s throats, and I was beginning to feel concerned that someone was going to get hurt. But looking around at Levy and all the other faces in the bar, all I saw were knowing smiles, so I figured this type of fight happened often with no real results. At least I hoped that was the case.  
“ALRIGHT, YOU AND ME, OUTSIDE. RIGHT NOW.” Gray insisted. The boys, both hunched over in anger and fists clenched made their way out the door and into the snowy cold evening. I turned to Levy.  
“Are they going to be alright? Shouldn’t someone follow them? Or… Stop them? Or something?”  
Levy chuckled, “Nah, they pull these kinds of stunts all of the time. They’ll quit it once they get too cold out there. They put on a good show, and they’d probably never admit it but they’re both pretty good friends.”  
I was skeptical but figuring Levy knew better than I did, I turned back to my drink.  
“So… You’ve already met Natsu eh?” Levy said while taking a sip of her drink, “You seem rather chummy, how long have you guys been acquainted?”   
She wasn’t looking directly at me, but I could still see a smirk on her face and I knew what she was assuming, which caused be to blush and get a bit defensive.  
“Ah... haha. I mean… It’s not like that, I mean… I’ve only known him like, two weeks. It’s just like I told you earlier, his dumb cat kept crashing at my place, he kept breaking in to get him back and eventually we just started hanging out and watching movies since he was over all the time anyways.”  
“… Mmmhmm,” Levy turned to me with the smirk still on her face and a gleam in her eyes, “And obviously movie nights can’t ever turn into something else. Natsu seemed rather protective of you considering you’re only supposed to be movie buddies. Or whatever it is you’re calling it.”  
Oh god, I thought to myself, I mean I know that nothing’s happening, but is she implying there might be something more on Natsu’s end? Ughhhh, I don’t need this right now. I gulped down the rest of the drink in front of me, not wanting to deal with the implications of what Levy was saying.  
“Mhmm… That’s what I thought,” She said smugly before turning back to her own drink.   
I slanted my eyes at my new friend, “Well what about you and that big muscly guy earlier? You two seemed rather chummy.” I chuckled with pleasure as Levy appeared to almost choke on her drink before recomposing herself.  
“Oh. Gajeel? I just like to mess with him sometimes, he can be such a boor.”  
“Fine. If you can admit that there’s something going on, or at least the potential for something, between you and Natsu… I can admit to my… feelings… for Gajeel.” Levy said with a smirk.  
The ball was in my court, but I didn’t feel much like playing this game any longer.  
“Gray and Natsu have been out there a while… I’m just going to go make sure they haven’t frozen to death yet…”   
“Whatever you say Lucy!”  
Attempting to hide the evident blush on my face, I made a beeline for the door. What I didn’t expect to see when I opened it was two half naked men shouting at each other in the snow.  
“ARE YA GONNA APOLOGIZE YOU PERV?”  
“I DON’T HAVE ANYTHING TO APOLOGIZE FOR YOU ASSHOLE, WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?”  
Seeing the boys about to lunge at each other again, I shouted at them,   
“ENOUGH. You’ll both catch your death out here, especially dressed like that!”  
More like undressed, I thought to herself. But my exclamation seemed to pull them back to reality none the less as they sheepishly walked back over to the entrance where she stood.  
“Sorry Luce,” Natsu said, rubbing his neck sheepishly.  
Gray had the decency to look equally ashamed, “Flame brain here just gets under my skin is all.”  
Natsu looked about to pummel Gray again at the nickname he called him, but one withering glance had both boys putting their shirts back on and mumbling further apologies. The remainder of the evening passed without much incident. The gang was incredibly welcoming and surprisingly good at holding their liquor. Mostly.   
Having gotten into a drinking competition with Gray, by the end of the night Natsu had drunk enough he wobbled a bit on his feet as we began to walk home.   
“Luce?... *hic* C-can I stay *hic* at yer place *hic* t’night?” Natsu managed to ask while putting his arm around my shoulders, “S’closer and I’m *hic* a weeeeee bit drunk! *hic*”  
I had drunken a fair bit myself that evening, so his behavior seemed more endearing than it might have otherwise, and god help me, I giggled. However, I almost immediately remembered Levy’s teasing words earlier, as well as the last time Natsu had “stayed over”.  
“Mmmmm’kay but couch only this time!”  
“*hic* Youuuuuuu got it Luce! *hic*”

When we finally reached my apartment, I pulled out some extra blankets and a pillow and put them on the couch.  
“There you go! Night!”  
I went to go to bed in my room but Natsu cut me off at the pass.  
“Nuh-uh, *hic* couch’s lumpy! I’m the guest I should *hic* get the bed!”  
“You’re such an ass, I told you you’d be sleeping on the couch here!”  
Natsu wagged his finger at me, “S’not very *hic* hospitable of you!”  
“UGH, FINE. But you stay on your side of the bed you weirdo.”

I woke up around 5AM urgently needing to go to the bathroom but unable to move. What the hell? I thought, noticing something warm wrapped around my midsection and behind my back. I chanced a glance over my shoulder, only to see pink hair peaking over the edge. FUCK.   
Some time during the night, Natsu had slipped an arm around my midriff and curled up against me!  
I tried to slip out from under his arm but even unconscious, his grip just tightened.   
“Natsu!” I hissed, “Hey! Dingus!”  
Natsu just continued lightly snoring.   
Eventually I managed to worm my way out from under his arm and make it to the bathroom. To my dismay when I got back, the jerk had spread further out onto the bed! Grumbling, I made my way to the couch instead, curled up under the blankets, and tried not to think about pink haired idiots and their blue colored cats while I fell back asleep.


	5. In which a breakfast explodes and Levy schemes

FIVE

I woke up to sounds of banging, loud cursing, and a disturbingly strong smell of smoke in the air. This does not bode well, I thought. With a groan, and wincing at the pounding headache I could already feel, I slowly sat up on the couch. There was definitely something wrong, the smoky smell was even stronger now that I was up. I peered toward the kitchen, “Natsu?...”  
“Just a sec Luce! Ouch!!” I heard a loud bang from the kitchen.  
“What on earth are you d…”  
The kitchen looked like a disaster zone, like the sort of scene you see after a tornado hits. Pots and pans were everywhere, some covered in greyish sludge, some coated in a burnt mess. Some kind of batter was pooling over the countertop and dripping onto the cabinets below, and a large puddle of what I hoped was spilt coffee was inching its way across the floor. On the stovetop, a charred mess was smoking in a pan. I immediately ran over to turn on the stove.  
“Natsu, what the hell???”  
“Aw, Luce, I’m sorry! I wanted to fix you breakfast cuz you’re always cooking for me an’ Happy, but one thing led to another, and I broke your French press, and everything’s burning, and…”  
He paused as I started laughing hysterically.   
“It’s okay Natsu! Let’s just clean this up.”  
The antics of last night forgotten in the chaos of the morning, we began to pick up what was left of my kitchen. I picked up dishes and deposited them in the sink, while Natsu mopped up the coffee spill on the floor, and he held the garbage can open while I scraped the blackened mess off of three of my pans.   
“What were you doing that made such a mess exactly anyways?” I asked while we began to wash dishes. Not trusting him not to break them or make a mess while washing, I washed and rinsed the dishes and put Natsu in charge of drying them off.   
“Well… I started trying to make coffee and pancakes. But I got distracted while I was making the coffee and the first pancakes burned. So I went to make more on a new pan, but knocked the French press off the counter when I was putting the new pan on the stove. I spilled the batter when I realized the second set of pancakes was burning while I was sweeping up the glass from the French press. And then you came in…”  
I laughed again, “Only you could make breakfast such a chaotic event Natsu. I’m surprised you didn’t intentionally set fire to anything, being the pyro that you are.”  
He looked like he was about to respond, with his finger raised and mouth open to speak, but ultimately, he just laughed with me, flicking the dishtowel at me playfully.   
“Yeah, yeah, I make fire for a living. At least I’m not a cat stealing weirdo!”  
“Ah! Takes one to know one you breaking and entering weirdo!”  
We laughed for a bit before Natsu got a more serious look on his face, “Hey Luce about last night…”  
No. Nope, I so did NOT want to deal with all of the drunken repercussions of last night. I mean, I had woken up to Natsu SPOONING me! And with that realization, all of Levy’s words from the night before came flooding back as well. Did last night mean anything? Did Natsu LIKE me? Did I like him? No. No, it was way too early for this.  
“Don’t worry about it Natsu, we were both pretty drunk.”  
And it may have been my imagination, but I swear he looked a little dejected at that.   
“Whatever you say Luce…”  
The rest of the weekend passed without incident; at Natsu’s behest, he and I watched “How to Train Your Dragon” while he complained that Happy was nowhere near as cool as Toothless was. To which I reminded him that it was kind of a moot point to complain about wanting a dragon, seeing as they weren’t real.   
“Hmmph, that’s what YOU think,” was all he replied.

Later that week, after catching Erza looking at me with that same inscrutable expression from the previous day, she finally called me in to her office.  
This is it, I thought, I did something totally wrong and she’s going to let me go now. CRAP, what am I gonna do?  
“Lucy, please… sit down,” she gestured to the chair opposite her, “You’ve been working with us for… about a month or so now correct?”  
I nodded my agreement, too terrified to say anything.  
“It’s come to my attention that you helped a lot with the outstanding projects during our last editing blitz. Is that right?”  
Again, I nodded. Here it comes.  
“I wanted to let you know I noticed how thoughtful and insightful your comments were on your edits, you have a could have a real knack for this you know.”  
WHAT NOW? She continued speaking but I was still reeling from her most recent statement, and couldn’t think beyond, SHE LIKED MY EDITS?? I’m not FIRED? Eventually, noticing her expectant face, I managed to squeak out, “Oh, well thank you, I just tried to write what I would want to hear from someone reading my own work.”  
“Oh, so you write?”  
She continued to stare at me.  
“I mean… I suppose I did try to write a novel once?”   
Smooth Lucy, real smooth, I thought, she totally won’t think you’re an absolute dork now.  
“Well… If you ever… continued writing that novel I would love to read it some time. You seem to have a… unique voice that we’re always looking for here at Scarlett Publishing.”  
It took all my will power to not drop my jaw down to the floor. She wanted to read my writing? She thought I had a unique voice?? I nodded back and excused myself from the room. Somehow, I managed to hold in a quiet cheer until I had reached my cubicle.   
I felt giddy all through the workday and until I got home. Erza wanted to read MY writing!  
Oh my god. Erza wanted to read my writing.  
The giddiness quickly turned to panic as I realized that my dreams of being a published author would require another soul to actually read my words. How could I be so stupid?? My work isn’t anywhere near good enough to be shown to other people, let alone Erza Scarlett! I began frantically sorting through pages of my novel, trying to find even a small piece I wouldn’t mind sharing with someone. Somewhere in the middle of my desperate search, I heard a loud yowl come from outside. Of course he would show up now, I thought. But to my surprise, both a blue cat and a pink haired boy were waiting outside on my patio. Natsu grinned and waved before pointing to a DVD case. It was almost enough to make me forget about my panic over my book, seeing him outside. I hadn’t noticed when our movie nights had become such an intrinsic part of my life here in Magnolia, but the calm I immediately felt seeing Natsu outside, grinning dopily at me through the sliding glass door let me know that it would never feel quite right again without them.  
Natsu sobered a little as I let him in and he took in the chaos in my bedroom beyond.   
“Everything ok, Luce?”  
“Yeah… mostly I guess. Oh, I don’t know! It’s just that my boss found out I’ve been writing something and she wants to read it sometime and I told her sure, only I’m not sure any of it’s actually good enough for her to read… And what if I share it with her and she thinks it’s awful and then I’ll be the assistant who tried but wasn’t good enough and arrrgh…” I flopped down on the couch and buried my head in the cushions.  
I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder, “Hey Lucy? I know I haven’t read it but you’re great, so that must mean your writing’s great too right? And hey, if you want to have someone else read it first, you could always show it to me? I mean if you wanted…”  
I looked up to see Natsu bashfully rubbing the back of his neck. Oh, this wonderfully terrible, sweetheart of a boy. When had he become so important to me? And was it really only two weeks ago that his blue cat wandered into my life and I kept him inside with me by mistake?   
I smiled at him, “Maybe sometime, yeah. Thanks, Natsu.”  
“Hey hey, any time!” He said with a thumbs up and the largest grin I had ever seen.  
“Mrow!”   
“See! Happy thinks it’ll be great too!”  
We laughed until our stomachs ached, and then we settled into our familiar places, Happy happily splayed between our two laps, while the opening credits of the movie started.

That Friday night, I hung out with the Fairy Tail crew again; however this time, wary of another half-naked snow fight, I mostly stuck with Levy. We chatted about work, and what it was like working for Erza, where the best places to hang out in Magnolia were, as well as our lives up to this point (although I kept to myself for much of this part of the conversation. There were too many painful memories I wasn’t ready to get into yet).  
“So…” Levy gave me a pointed look, “How’s it going with Natsu?”  
I choked on my drink and Levy unsympathetically pat my back while I hacked out a lung.  
“Umm… REALLY there’s nothing to tell!”  
“Mmmhmm…”  
“Really, we watch movies and eat dinner together sometimes but that’s it!”  
“I know you’re holding out on me…”  
I started to deny her accusation again, but a pink haired blur suddenly wrapped an arm around my shoulders and playfully mussed my hair, “Hey Luce, whatcha guys talkin’ about?”  
Levy gave me another pointed look at this display. I rolled my eyes back at her before responding, “Oh, nothing, just movies and stuff!”  
“Ohhh did you tell her about that one…”  
“Actually,” Levy cut in, “I was just telling Lucy about a show you’re working this weekend. Didn’t you say you had some comp tickets?”  
I glared back at Levy but thankfully Natsu didn’t seem to notice. In fact, he hadn’t moved his arm yet either, which made my stomach flip unexplainedly. What the hell?  
“Aww, yeah! It’s gonna be totally awesome Luce, they’re having me do a ton of pyrotechnics for the show, you wanna come?”  
He was so earnest and his smile so infectious, what could I do but say yes? So I beamed back at him and said, “Yeah Natsu, that sounds great.”  
“Awesome! I’m all fired up now! I’ll pick you up around five ok? I’ve gotta get there early for set up and set checks.”  
I could feel Levy’s eyes on me as I replied, “Sounds good, see you then,” and they continued to watch me while I watched Natsu happily walk back towards the others at the bar. 

I was definitely in trouble.


	6. In which Lucy and Natsu go to a concert and something unexpected happens

SIX

I woke up feeling unsure about my upcoming night with Natsu. Was it actually a date? Was it just a casual thing? What do you wear when you're jot sure if you're on a date or not? Did I even want this to be a date? All things aside, Natsu was one of my only friends in the area; did I really want to risk that, when I wasn't even sure if he might have feelings for me? Was I even sure of my feelings for him? I took a moment to think about that.  
I had never really had a serious crush on anyone before. I grew up somewhat isolated, and it only got worse by the time I was old enough to start understanding those sorts of feelings. Boys flirted with me, sure, I mean I'm not a dog or anything; plenty of guys have hooted and hollered on the street, and several have offered to buy me drinks when I go out. But none had stuck around long enough for serious feelings to develop. I'd only known Natsu a couple of weeks so far but I could tell he was special. He was kind and caring, even if he was sometimes disastrous at showing it, and he clearly cared about everyone he called friend very deeply. He had certainly given me butterflies on occasion, but was that enough to risk a potentially exceptional friendship on?  
Feeling more and more uneasy, I decided to call and consult with Levy.  
"Levy I'm freaking out here"  
"Ohhhhh, about your daaaaaaaate?"  
"Levy, do we even know it's a date? It was a pretty casual invitation, and it doesn't seem like he was asking me in a way that was any different from when he asks if I wanna watch a movie. Maybe he just wants to hang out as friends?"  
"Maybe. But listen… He lights up around you in a way that I haven't…" She sighed, "Natsu had a pretty serious girlfriend a while back, Lisanna. They were thick as thieves and Natsu was crazy about her. But then one day she just up and left, without so much as a note, and it left Natsu… pretty despondent for a while. I know I haven't seen you two interact that much but he's lighting up around you in a way that I haven't seen since Lisanna. And it's possible not even Natsu has put two and two together yet, so I may be guilty of meddling a bit but you have to trust me on this, that boy is crazy about you."  
I wasn't sure how to respond to all of the information that had just been dumped on me. I felt bad for the relationship Natsu had lost out of the blue like that, but conflicted hearing that Levy was so sure he liked me as more than a friend. It was a lot of pressure too, knowing he had been so badly hurt before. The last thing I wanted to do was to hurt him again in any way, but what if we went for it and things didn’t work out? I’d have to live with the guilt of hurting him again, AND with the pain of losing a good friend.  
“How sure are you about this Levy?”  
“Pretty damn sure. The last time someone was able to get Natsu and Grey to stop fighting like you did the other night, it was Mirajane, and she had to grab them both by the ear first.”  
I smiled at that, then realizing she obviously couldn’t hear that through the phone, said, “Thanks Levy. I feel a bit better. I’m still not convinced this is a date but I do feel better about the whole thing.”  
“Any time Lucy. Now go get ready for your DATE.”

In the end, I decided to err on the side of caution, and get ready like this was going to be a date but mentally prepare for this to just be two friends hanging out at a concert. Ultimately, all I knew was that slightly manic, infectiously enthusiastic, pink haired boy was important to me, and that I wanted him in my life. And who said I couldn't look cute at the same time?  
I was finishing putting on my lipstick when I heard a familiar yowl outside my door. Grinning, I ran to the front door to find both Happy and Natsu already walking inside. I decided not to make a fuss about this violation of common decency though upon seeing Natsu with his jaw open, staring at me. Clearly, I had chosen my outfit well.  
"Lucy… You look awesome!"  
I had certainly dressed for the occasion. Natsu had told me it was a punk rock show, so I had chosen some tight, ripped black jeans, lace up boots, and a cropped Green Day tee with a leather jacket, and I’d vamped up my makeup some, with heavy winged eyeliner and a deep dark red lip. I gave him a little spin (you can’t blame a girl for flirting a little), “Thanks Natsu! Just wanted to look the part, ya’ know?”  
“You totally nailed it, you look… awesome!”  
I laughed, “Yeah, thanks you said that.”  
“D’ya mind if Happy stays here while we’re gone? He followed me out, and it’s supposed to snow pretty bad again tonight. I don’t want him getting lost out there.”  
“Of course! It’s about time you started caring about your cat’s whereabouts,” I said with a wink.  
Natsu grumbled at that, but nonetheless I set up some bowls of food and water for Happy before we set out for the concert. We talked on our walk over the venue, about our childhoods, about moving to Magnolia, about whatever little things you remember when you’re getting to know someone and instinctively want to envelop them in your world. By the time we reached the backdoor to the venue, it felt like Natsu and I had known each other for years. It was a feeling I had only had a handful of times: once with a childhood friend, once with a friend in high school, and of course, with my mother. It’s that feeling you get deep down, when you just know, this person gets me; I could tell them anything and they would understand where I’m coming from, even if I can’t find the words. It’s like finding a missing puzzle piece but in a person. It’s coming home whenever you see them. And it was enough to give me butterflies at the realization as we rounded the corner to the door. Natsu was one of my people. No matter what tonight was, nothing could change that.  
“You ok Luce?”  
I shook myself out of my reverie, “Yeah, totally! Just lost in thought for a sec. Is this it?”  
“Yeah! You ready to rock?” Natsu enthusiastically played some air guitar.  
I laughed and copied his movements, riffing on my invisible guitar with windmill-like strokes, “Hell yeah!”  
Both of us laughing, we carried on inside the venue, where Natsu explained where I was allowed backstage, as well as where to avoid the majority of the commotion, before making his apologies to go talk to the band about show preparations. While Natsu chatted with the band members and other concert staff about the logistics of what sounded like a giant fireball that was supposed to go off during the show, I started looking around the rest of the backstage area. I had never been backstage at a concert before, so I was curious what there was to see. It turned out, mostly lots of people running around getting things prepped: instruments being run around, stage lights and special effects being checked, PA's running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to get whatever requests filled. As I came back around to where I had last seen Natsu, I saw three other familiar faces instead; Grey, Mirajane, and Juvia walked through the backstage door as I walked up. Initially my heart sank on seeing them: clearly this wasn't a date if other Fairy Tail people were here too. Despondency was quickly replaced with excitement to share the concert with new friends though. From what Natsu had told me, he wouldn't be able to hang out much during the actual show as he'd be busy with his work.  
“Hey guys!”  
The group smiled over at me as they walked up.  
“Hey Lucy, how’s it going?” Mirajane asked as they approached.  
“Pretty good, even better now that you guys are here too! I didn’t realize you were coming or we could have all walked over together. Does Natsu invite you all to his gigs fairly often then?”  
Mirajane beamed at me, “Oh, sometimes, when he can comp some passes for us. It’s easier with the smaller bands, like tonight.”  
Natsu, seeing the four of us from his place across the venue gave us all a big grin and a thumbs up. We all waved back, and I hoped that mine didn’t show the slight disappointment I felt at realizing Natsu had invited more than just me to his show. It was fine, really it was, but it was going to take a moment for me to mentally recalibrate my thoughts about what tonight could be, and I was glad for a moment that Natsu was so far away. I wouldn’t want him to see any of my disappointment at the situation.  
Grey, Juvia, Mirajane and I chatted some more about our weeks, the band we were here to see, and other mundane topics until the lights dimmed and a fog machine filled the stage for the opening act to make their entrance. The first band was pretty good; it was a smaller, local band I’d never heard of but they had great energy and it was almost impossible not to bob my head along to the beat. The others, I saw, were felt similarly, and had even started dancing a little. I just smiled at them at first, but eventually Grey saw me standing next to them not dancing and gestured for me to join them.  
“Common Lucy, you gotta dance with us!”  
Conceding, I grinned and joined them, bobbing and weaving to the music, hips swaying to the beat. We kept dancing through most of the set, until eventually the band started in on a slower, sweeter melody. Grey held out his hand to me, “Care to dance?”  
Smiling, I nodded and we swayed for a bit. Eventually (and honestly predictably based on the intel Levy had given me the other week), Juvia cut in with an annoyed huff. I didn’t mind, but when I looked over towards Natu’s post, he was scowling. What on earth could that be about?  
I wouldn’t have to wait long to find out. At the break between sets, Natsu stalked over to our little group and shoved a finger in Grey’s chest, “What does a perv like you think you’re doin’ dancing with Lucy?”  
“Chill out, flame brain. You’re the one that left her here by herself. Besides, you know I’m… seeing Juvia.”  
“Well, I don’t like ya putting your hands all over her like that, got it?”  
Grey put his hands up in defence, but I just got pissed.  
“Natsu, what does it matter if Grey danced with me? It’s not like you were going to be able to!”  
Natsu pulled a bit at his hair and grumbled, “Ugh, FUCK, nevermind.” And stalked back off to his post.  
“What was that about?” Grey asked.  
“As if my Grey would ever be interested in another girl anyways,” Juvia said with a sniff.  
I didn’t much care for Juvia’s tone, but it was all very odd, nonetheless. Natsu had invited other people here, right? Which meant this wasn’t a date. But he had been acting weirdly possessive just then if it weren’t a date. I ruminated over the whole situation for the entirety of the next set.  
When we made our goodbyes to the rest of the group, Natsu seemed oddly curt and stiff, compared to his usual jovial demeanor.  
As Natsu and I walked home in silence, I chanced a glance over at his still stiff form.  
“So… That was… something earlier…” I said quietly.  
Natsu let out a big sigh, “I’m sorry about all that Luce, Grey can just be such a perv sometimes. I was worried he was trying to put the moves on you or something.”  
“Aren’t he and Juvia dating?”  
“I guess but I just don’t trust him. At least… not with you…” This last part was said so quietly I thought I might have imagined it. We continued on in silence for a beat.  
“What does it matter if someone puts ‘the moves’ on me anyways?”  
“... I don’t know. Don’t worry about it, I’m really, honestly sorry Luce. I promise I won’t lash out like that again.”  
Not knowing what to say after that, I kept walking quietly with Natsu back to my apartment, the storm getting worse and the snowfall more intense the whole way. When we finally reached my front door, it practically looked like a white out.  
“Look,” I said, “this storm’s getting pretty bad, you better just stay here for the night. That is, if you want to.”  
Natsu visibly perked up at my suggestion, “Aww, yeah, really? I totally didn’t want to walk home in this by myself. Plus, now we can watch some movies!”  
I chuckled as I unlocked the door, “Yeah! I’ll put on some cocoa and everything.”  
When we got inside, Happy was cozily curled up on the couch, and purred loudly when he saw us enter.  
“Hey Happy, you miss us?” Natsu went over to scratch behind Happy’s ear.  
I hadn’t missed that he’d said “us” when talking to Happy either. Us. It had such a cozy feel to it, like being wrapped in a warm blanket. And this truly felt like an “us” moment, with the storm outside, a pink haired boy cozied up with his cat, and hot cocoa on the stove… It was easy to forget anything else existed. That feeling continued through the end of the movie and well past midnight, when all three of us started yawning our exhaustion.  
“Couch tonight, right Luce?”  
I paused. It wasn’t like Natsu hadn’t slept in my bed before, and I felt a little bad about leaving him out here in the living room when I knew the heating wasn’t going to be great with the storm outside. It couldn’t hurt to let him sleep in the bed with me right? My stomach did little flips at the thought, but I answered, “Actually… You can sleep in the bed if you want. Just don’t hog all the blankets, ok??”  
There, let him interpret THAT as he will, I thought.  
As it was, he looked a little perplexed, but nonetheless, we both got ready to sleep and crawled into my bed together. I have to admit, I thought as I drifted off, even if it’s just for added warmth, it’s nice having him here with me.

NATSU  
I woke up sometime around 3AM, confused about why I wasn’t in my own bed, and why there seemed to be someone next to me, before I remembered, I stayed with Lucy tonight. Joy at that thought hit me like a freight train, and I had to lie back for a bit grinning at how lucky I was. The next thought I came right on the heels of that, I’ve gotta hold her.  
It was a little risky. I knew there was a good chance if she woke up, Lucy would be pissed at me invading her personal space. Then again, maybe my luck would continue and she wouldn’t wake up at all. I gingerly wrapped an arm around Lucy’s middle and curled up around her sleeping form. There was some light shifting and a very quiet sigh, but it seemed like she was going to stay asleep; I couldn’t believe my luck. This beautiful, wonderful, generous girl was right here and I got to sleep next to her. Even if nothing else ever happened, even if she never liked me back, I knew memories of this moment would keep me sustained forever. And really, I thought as I drifted contentedly back to sleep, as long as I get to keep hanging out with her I’ll be happy with that.

LUCY  
I woke up suddenly, feeling unusually hot. I started to fling off the covers before realizing the reason for the heat I felt wasn’t the blankets, but a warm body melded to mine and an arm over my midriff. He did it again, I thought, but unlike the last time, there was no panic or annoyance, but only a dreamy smile at the idea of Natsu curling up around me last night. This, I thought, this could be enough forever, even if nothing else happened. And as the first rays of light hit our prone bodies, I drifted back off into a peaceful sleep, knowing Natsu would be there still when I finally woke up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably the second to last chapter, but we'll see where it ends organically!


	7. In which some things get resolved during a snow storm

SEVEN  
When I woke up the next morning the heat of Natsu beside me was gone, and I was left feeling chilly alone in my bed. Confused, I sat up and looked around. Did Natsu leave? A quick search told me he wasn’t in the bedroom anymore, but I also didn’t hear any commotion coming from the kitchen this morning. Curiously, I walked out into the living area, rubbing my eyes as I went.  
“Natsu?... What the HELL are you DOING?”  
I walked into the room, only to find Natsu snooping through a pile of papers that could only have been my novel.   
“I never gave you permission to read this!” I shouted, grabbing the stack from his grasp, “It’s private!”  
“Aww but Lucy, it was really good! Could use more dragons so far but I really like it! I wanna know what happens next, you can’t just take it away from me like that… Besides, it’s a book, isn’t it supposed to be read?”  
I paused at that, He really thinks it’s good?  
“Still, you didn’t even ask first, Natsu.”  
“I’m sorry Luce. Can I pleeeeease finish reading it?”  
I thought for a second. He had said he’d liked it so far, and he’d already started… What was the harm, really?  
“Yeah, ok,” I handed the stack of papers back gingerly, trying to straighten out the pages as I did.  
Natsu eagerly went back to reading, and I went about making us some coffee and breakfast; it was too early for me to deal with this and be undercaffeinated.   
Natsu barely looked up at me as I set down a plate of eggs with toast and a cup of coffee next to him. I went ahead and ate at the kitchen table while he continued to read. I was almost too nervous to eat, but I knew I’d regret it later if I had nothing now.   
What if the rest of it is garbage and the first part was just a fluke, I thought, and suddenly I was even more anxious to hear what Natsu had to say. I knew he’d be honest at the very least, and so I realized in some ways, I was glad to have him read my book. At least I’d finally know for sure if I was any good. Time continued to pass, and I started to get more and more antsy about the whole thing.  
“Aren’t you finished yet?”  
“I’m not the fastest reader ya’ know. And it’ll take me longer if you keep bothering and hovering over me like that.”  
“… I’m sorry, it’s just I haven’t let anyone read my novel before and I’m worried it’s really bad.”  
Natsu turned to me at my admission, a confused look on his face, “But Lucy, this is really good! I don’t read very much but your book has me totally into it!”  
“Really?”  
“Yeah, totally! I mean, like I told you earlier, it could use more dragons…”  
“Of course you would think that, weirdo,” I laughed.  
“Yeah, yeah, yuck it up. I’m serious though Lucy, you should show this to people!”  
“Thanks Natsu.”  
And for a bit, all we did was stare at each other. Finally tearing my gaze away from his, I looked outside for the first time that morning, only to see a complete white out on the other side of the window.  
“Yikes! You and Happy better stay here a little longer until that storm clears up.”  
And so we settled in to our usual movie routine, with snacks and drinks on the couch. This time though, I couldn’t help but notice our legs touching over the course of the first act of the movie. Was that on purpose? [more thoughts about the night before and conflicted about it now, what does it mean].  
Finally, I found it in me to say something to him, “Hey Natsu?...”  
“Yeah, what’s up Luce?”  
“… I noticed… last night I mean… Um… You kind of were…”  
Before I could even finish, Natsu got a somewhat horrified expression on his face. Had it been that bad? Did he regret what happened, or did he even realize what he’d been doing?  
“Aww, Lucy, I’m sorry. I won’t do it again, promise!”  
“Oh! Uh… Ok”  
“Really Lucy, I didn’t mean to freak you out or anything!”  
“It’s ok Natsu!”  
We fell briefly into an uncomfortable silence, and I began to regret even bringing it up at all.  
“We can just forget about it if you want,” I said finally.  
“Yeah, ok,” And I could have sworn I heard disappointment in his voice.

When the movie was over, the storm was still raging, so we started to make lunch together; Natsu made what I supposed some would call sandwiches, but looked more like something out of a cartoon, and I sliced some apples to go with them. There had been an uncomfortable silence since I brought up the previous night, and for about the millionth time in the last couple of hours, I regretted bringing it up at all.   
Was it possible I had completely misread everything? Maybe Natsu had just unconsciously cuddled up for warmth last night, and he felt mortified because he didn’t feel that way about me at all. My head swam with thoughts about what might have been going through his head, preoccupying my thoughts so that I didn’t even notice when my knife slipped while slicing an apple.  
“Ouch! Crap…”  
“Lucy, you ok?”  
“Yeah, I just gotta grab a band-aid,” I said, wrapping a towel around the cut finger.  
“Here, let me help,” Natsu said, grabbing a bandage from the package I was trying to open. And he wrapped it around my finger so gently, so tenderly, I knew that at least I hadn’t completely imagined what happened last night.  
“Hey Lucy?”  
“Yeah?...”  
“Last night, I… That wasn’t really an accident or nothin’…” He kept looking down at my finger, “But I hope I didn’t make things too awkward?”  
I smiled at the sweet but dense boy in front of me.  
“It’s alright Natsu… I didn’t actually mind that much.”  
He looked up suddenly, beaming, “Really?”   
Then, as if nervous, he looked away again, “Hey, Luce? Do you think maybe… sometime… you’d want to go do something together? Ya’ know, like just the two of us?”  
“Yeah Natsu, it’s a date.”  
And I couldn’t stop smiling, because I hadn’t imagined things, and of all the people he could have chosen, he wanted to be with me. And I knew, whatever we did next, it was sure to be an adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is so short! I really struggled with how to end this story after the last chapter. I wanted to draw it out a little longer originally but I clearly have no patience. Anyways, thanks to all who stuck through this with me! Eventually I'll write another fic, but I'm definitely going to take a break from writing for a little while. Let me know if you have any suggestions/prompts in the meantime though, I'd love to hear them!


End file.
